After losing his best friend to another guy, the notoriously too-confident Max Emory suddenly feels lost. He may have devastatingly good looks, an abundance of charm, and a claim to one of the biggest hotel empires around, but he has no ambition anymore. So when his fed-up friends decide they’ve had enough of his moping, they sign him up to be the next bachelor on the reality series Love Island. And between his pride and his forged signature on an ironclad contract, Max just can’t say no.

Now he’s stranded in paradise with twenty-four women, one terrifying goat, and Becca, the breathtaking barista who already turned him down back home. The closer Max gets to Becca, the more determined he becomes to win her over. As she gets to know him better, things start heating up. But is Becca really after Max’s heart—or is she after the cash prize she could claim once the cameras stop rolling?

This story starts off with Max, a fun loving, cocky, rich guy who gets what he wants. We meet Max at a coffee shop, where he decides the barista is the next lady who won’t be able to resist his charm, and guess what? She does! All while making him look like a fool at the same time, it’s perfect. Little does Max know, his friends are getting tired of his behaviour and think he needs a purpose in life, so they decide to sign him up for a dating show, on a tropical island. Problem #1 for Max? It’s a dating show. Problem #2? It’s on a island. A tropical island. While Max is all luxury and air conditioning, he is definitely going to be out of his element.

Enter Becca, a barista who is trying to put herself through school and pay her bills. Becca is fun, sassy, and definitely won’t take crap from any guy, especially the ones throwing cheesy pick up lines around at her work. She decided that a way to try and get money would be to try and win on a reality dating show. Get to the end? You can choose money AND the guy, or just the money. Easy peasy, right? Maybe not.

I just want to start out by saying that this is the first novel I have read by Rachel Van Dyken, and I have no previous knowledge of any of her other work, including the first book in this series. The Consequence of Revenge was a light, quirky, beachy, “put you in a good mood” type of book. It was absolutely hilarious, and sweet, and downright odd at times, but I really liked it! This is the type of book I’d love to read again in the future, I’m rating it as 4.5 stars.

I thought the characters in this novel were portrayed quite well. The MCs, SCs, and even the mascots – can’t forget about Hades and Little G, the islands resident goat and gecko – all had personalities that complimented each other, all while no one was over shadowed. The hero, Max, was hilarious, I loved him! Don’t get me wrong, his type of humour is definitely not everyone’s cup of tea, but it meshed well with my sense of humour, and it felt completely genuine to his character. Max was shameless and never once apologized for who he was or for his personality. He completely owned all of his thoughts and actions, which seems to be less and less common in both books and real life these days.

“It needs to be said. I didn’t have the strongest stomach. I wasn’t the type of guy who could hold your hair while you puked and not be affected. Did that make me the worst possible boyfriend ever? Maybe. It’s entirely possible I’d throw you a towel and run out of the room gagging. I know it’s romantic to women—oh, my gosh, he’s so sweet he held my hair while I puked up last night’s hot dog and enough rum and Diet Coke to kill Captain Jack Sparrow! Seriously? What do you women read? How the hell is that romantic? Give me one reason. One. Just one. I don’t even need three. Oh, wow, silence, big shock. You wanna know why? Because it’s gross. Because if I had long hair and I were leaning over the toilet, God, you would not, ever, in your right mind waltz into the bathroom, put it in a ponytail, rub my back, wipe my mouth, and think, Wow, I really love this guy, oh, look a cracker!”

Becca, the heroine, was a pretty cool girl – I wish I had someone like her in my life! She was down to earth, sassy, and most importantly, she had a back bone! She never took crap from the other characters and was just as fast to throw it back their way when need be.

The characters fit well together well and all interacted without missing a beat. The back and forth banter has to be some of the best written bickering scenes that I’ve experienced in a while! Not only was it humour filled, but it was real, and consistent throughout e novel. It can be hard to keep things consistent when they aren’t necessarily the norm, but Van Dyken does it flawlessly. When I say the conversations were real, I mean I could one hundred percent see people in my own life react in the exact same way, poking fun at each other and the like.

The plot in this book is definitely not average, but with that being said, it wasn’t over the top and in your face either. Some characters or challenges on the show were a bit on the ridiculous side, but entertaining nonetheless. I had no problem visualizing scenes or characters with the detail given.

I liked that this story was a quick read. It was easy, flowed well, and progressed at a pleasing pace. The one critique I have is that the last ten percent or so seemed to be rushed to me. There wasn’t as much detail, and some scenes seemed a bit disjointed; I felt a little like maybe a scene or two were missing, and I was a confused as to how a certain decision was made. Granted, Van Dyken covered all of her bases and it was all tied up with a neat little bow in the end.

All in all, for my first Rachel Van Dyken book, I was a fan. I enjoyed her writing style and pacing, the characters, setting, and humour. I will definitely be interested in reading more from her in the future!

About Rachel Van Dyken

Rachel Van Dyken is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author of regency and contemporary romances. When she’s not writing you can find her drinking coffee at Starbucks and plotting her next book while watching The Bachelor.
She keeps her home in Idaho with her Husband, adorable son, and two snoring boxers! She loves to hear from readers!